First Day of School

Ah, the first day of school.  It used to be one of my favorite things as a kid, but as a parent I am a fence sitter.  I love it because there is less fighting and Asher is excited to go back.  A happy school kid equals a happy mom.  I don't love it because then he's gone.  Again.  And that makes me sad.  I miss just having everyone together and free to go and do whatever we want.  Summer is free time, fun time and family time, and things just get so busy once school is in again.  This year looks to be the same.  We are already talking about soccer season times two, preschool and school events, basketball season, Lobo football games, and more.
This year, Asher starts the Second Grade, and will have Ms. Thorne as a teacher, who we met a few days before school started and she seems very energized and nice.  He was so excited on the first day!  Corey, as always, went in late to work and came along for the big morning, which is always fun.
Asher's lunchbox choice is always an ordeal.  This year he had his heart set on a UNM Lobos lunchbox, which really doesn't exist.  Trust me, I looked high and low.  With a little ingenuity, we came up with a solution that involved a Costco lunchbox with a Lobos iron-on patch.  Voila.  It's pretty awesome, and I think Ash should watch it or his Dad may snag it for his own!  Hopefully this one lasts more than a few months.  I'm crossing my fingers.

Beckett happily informed me that with Asher at school, we are going to be playing lots of games together.  That first day we came home for few matches of Hi-Ho Cherry-O.  I am thankful to still have a little buddy at home.  Next year may well kill me.  Just the other day, Corey and I were talking to Beck about preschool, and he turned to me and said, "Mom, next year there won't be anyone home with you.  You'll be all alone." Stab. Me. Through. The. Heart.  Ouch.  He's right though!  I think Corey was caught between laughing and shedding a tear for me.  He gave me the 'ah, I'm sorry' look to be safe:)

This will be a great year for Asher, and I'm excited to watch and help him to learn and grow.
 Here's to the 2nd Grade!

Little Fish

 This summer was a milestone one for Asher.  He can now swim from one end of the pool to the other. What a huge accomplishment!  His different strokes are still in the works, but the confidence is now there, which is so awesome! We went swimming to the West Mesa Pool a couple of times, and after he mastered the diving board there, he went ahead and braved the high dive as well.  It's really high.  I'm not so sure I'd go off of it.  Did I mention how high it looks?  Brave kid, I say!  I'm so proud of him!

Beckett, on the other hand, is enjoying his swim lessons, but not wanting to progress much.  I'm not too hard on him though, because Asher has gotten the hang of it in his own time and I know Beck will too.  It was a little frustrating though, when Beckett wouldn't go under the water in the Wave I class, so they sent him back to the preschool one (boo) where he gets to play all the games and act like animals.  Okay, that does sound like more fun I guess.  BUT, when we went swimming with friends, he'd float around the kid pool face down, no problem.  Go figure.  Like I said, I've learned that the swimming thing comes when they want it to, not when mom thinks it should.  Maybe that's a lesson for life?  Hmmm.  Here are some pictures of my little fishies:)

 

Staying Put

Whew.  I don't even know where to start with the whirlwind our summer turned out to be.  I'll start in late May, when Corey started talking with a company in California about the possibility of a new job.  From the start, it was intriguing and sounded like a good opportunity.  Then, they flew him out a couple of weeks later for a day full of interviews, which went really well.  After some talking and negotiating and a bit of finageling, an offer was given.  We thought and prayed and decided to take it.  A new job in a new place with new opportunities.  Plus, the locale was Irvine, California which is supposedly one of the best places to live in the U.S.(and 10 miles from the ocean).  We were excited to find out if it really was.  It was going to be a quick relocation, much of which we'd be doing ourselves.  The house was on the market, we shifted our planned trip to Utah a bit, packed half the house, started selling off some of our bigger items that would in no way fit into our apartment in Irvine that we had lined up (it looked like a resort...gorgeous, seriously), and I'd reserved a moving truck for the big day.  We were even asked to speak in church, just by chance, and gave sort of farewell talks.   It was crazy, crazy and super stressful.

Flash forward a week and a half.....Corey's boss asked him if there was any way he'd consider staying.  WHAT!? We'd made our decision, or so I thought.  After some more talking, negotiating, and further discussion, we finally received word of what opportunity his current job would offer.  California was more lucrative, New Mexico was more opportunity.  So we thought and prayed some more, and after a wrenching few days, we'd made a decision.  Again.  This time it was to stay.  It was definitely the right choice for Corey and for our family for the time being, and we both felt really good about it!  After looking at homes for a few weeks, we ultimately decided to just stay in our home for a few more years.  We just couldn't find what we wanted and I didn't really want to deal with moving once school started, so we took it off the market, and I moved our garage full of boxes back into our home. Ironically, a week after our decision to stay, I received a call to be YW President, so I can only believe that this whole mess of a summer had some kind of reason for being, even if I don't see it all right away.

SO, we are here, in NM, where we've always been, doing (for the most part) the things we've always done and are happy and well, minus a few belongings that, I'm finding, I may not need so much afterall:)  Life is such a funny surprise sometimes.  This whole experience of moving staying put has reminded me yet again that we only have so much control over what happens in life, and that if you have faith and try to make the right decisions, Heavenly Father will help it all to work out the way it's supposed to.  I am sad that I wasted much of the summer stressing out and working on moving, but happy that it all worked out and we get to continue our journey here in NM.  I have a feeling that the summer we were robbed of will be made up for in the forthcoming years.

You just never know, you know?

LRP 2013

Holy smokes.  Park City was fun, beautiful, festive, patriotic, yummy and a little crazy too. This year's LRP (Larry Pettit Reunion, or 'lurp' as it's come to be called) was a blast!  I love that we all get to come together and hang out and let the kids run crazy together once a year.  Don't get me wrong, it's a loud and crazy few days, but at the end I always love that we had the time together, especially since we don't live near anyone in my fam.  This year, the reunion was over the Fourth of July, so we started out at the parade in Park City, where my boys found a spot right up front and watched all the mayhem go by on bikes, feet, paws, hooves, feet, motorcycles, and cars.  Too fun.

The house we rented was perfect for our group size.  We stayed at the houses that were used as lodging for the athletes in the 2002 Winter Olympics, so they were right at the base of the mountain where the Olympic Training Facility/Museum is.  The one downside was the lack of AC, which we assumed would have been included in the building of such nice condos, but no. In the future, we will definitely be assuming nothing on the AC front.

We took our boys to the Alpine Slide area in PC, and did the rollercoaster and slide with the boys.  We'd done this once before a few years back, but I was pregnant with B at the time, and had watched from the bottom.  The boys loved it, and wanted to go as fast as possible.

Shopping is always a fun diversion in PC, and the girls left the guys with all the kiddos on one afternoon.  They didn't love it, but we had fun!
There was a VERY unfortunate incident involving a flag and Koleson's eye that was really scary, but thankfully ended up ok. We missed the whole thing, but came back from our Alpine Slide jaunt to hear that Koleson had been rushed down to the hospital to get his eye checked out after a little USA flag stick had left a sliver in his eye.  The kids had been playing around with them and there was an accident.  So scary!  After a few visits and calls to drs, everything ended up ok, but I now know that if anything gets stuck in an eye, you should have it checked out fast or infection is a very dangerous possibility.  So glad Koleson was ok.
Good food, cousins everywhere, celebrating my Mom, Jen's and Jake's birthdays,  swimming, fireworks, Wreck it Ralph (I think the kids watched pieces of it 50 times),  and talking at the big table were the fun memories this year.

Right after our reunion, there was a get-together with my grandpa and grandma Pettit and all of my dad's family.  It was great to see so many of my cousins, their spouses and kids...some that I was meeting for the first time.

We also had some time at my parents during the trip and had a great time visiting, checking out Scheel's (I got to ride the giganto ferris wheel with Troy!), going to the Dinosaur Museum, riding Uncle Jake's motorcycle and playing with all the cutie-pie kiddos.  Asher looooves his newest cousins, Taizley and Ella. 

LRP 2013 was fun. Can't wait to do it again! Love you all!

Sporty Boys

Ooooooh. Do these boys ever love sports.  Which is why it is so darn fun to cheer them on.  Asher played soccer again, and is really beginning to sharpen his skills.  It's a little busy in the spring since it overlaps the little league season, but we manage and he loves it all. He scores goals at his soccer games almost every week, and is learning the ropes of catching and hitting off of a pitching machine in baseball.  He's had a few very good games, actually!  I am amazed that the two of us can actually play catch together, which we have started doing while watching some of Beck's games recently.  When we aren't playing catch, Asher is hands down his brother's biggest fan.  Ash jumps around, cheering on Beck with everything he has.  Also, this boy is one who pays attention to rules, and what's going on.  He knows his stuff, and for his age I find it amazing.  He totally cracks us up when he's outside running around playing ball, and playing announcer at the same time (with his NY accent, no less).  He actually corrected Corey at dinner the other night while talking about basketball...did you know that in NCAA basketball there are 35 seconds on the shot clock instead of the 24 seconds that are on the NBA one?  Asher knew.  I even looked it up to check. Holy sports fan.

 

Beck is playing T-ball this year and also loving it! He's happy to finally be out on the field doing his thing instead of on the sidelines trying to be a good boy sitting by mom.  Beckett is all business out there, and has his own little routine when at bat, including a few taps on the plate with the bat and a nice, dramatic switch into batting position. He is also quite good at defensive t-ball, and loves to get kids out on base, except that it's t-ball so nobody gets out, ever:)  He is just so happy to be getting his own snacks (his favorite part) at games and excited that he can now start his own trophy collection (he keeps asking when he's getting one), like his big bro.  Corey is his coach this year, which is so nice, but probably not always so nice for Corey.  Beck gives him a run for his money some days, but what else would you expect from the coach's son? Sigh.

Go Reitz boys!!  Aren't they so cute in their uniforms? :)

 

Quick Change Artist

Our Beckett loves to change.  Not just his clothes, but his whole persona.  The next thing you know, he is bounding down the stairs dressed as a super hero. Or a fuzzy tiger.  Or a pirate.  Or a cowboy.  Every character he plays has a special way to walk and talk, whether it's flying around the room in true Superman fashion, growling like a hungry Lion, or saying YE-HAW, he gives it his all. If he sees me coming with a camera, he doesn't just smile, he strikes a pose fitting to his 'character.' Occasionally, he sports his chosen get-up on a trip to the grocery store.  I mean, really, what am I going to do, say no?  No way, I say.  They're only little for so long and this is the fun stuff.  This is the stuff you remember when they're 15 and driving you crazy.  You close your eyes and wish they'd reappear as a cute, fluffy elephant, age 4, smiling and happy, right?.  At least that's what I'm guessing, so I'm letting this quick change artist play all he wants because there are years and years left of wearing all that other stuff, right?

 

This one here is a size 2T getup that he just can't get enough of.

Playing 'Conference Bingo'.

Spring Break 2013

Oh! This year was a fun one.  We kept the trip a surprise from the boys for months, which was much harder than anticipated.  Then, the day before we were supposed to leave, I made up a little scavenger hunt for them with clues.  At the end were their backpacks, all ready to go, with snacks and goodies, activities, and the big announcement that we were going to Disneyland!

Beck's reaction was an instantaneous and very enthusiastic, "We're going to DISNEY LAND! We're going to DISNEYLAND!" As he bounced all over the room.  Asher's response, on the other hand was slightly delayed and he didn't really catch on to what we were doing until he started asking about flying somewhere.  Silly boy.  There is no Disneyland where we live.  Then, he smiled big and started getting really excited, and soon asked if we'd be going to a Laker's game too.  Um, no.

We flew out that evening and got into LAX laaaaaate. Whew, was it late. The boys were troopers and amazing little fliers, so it wasn't so bad, except for my ears not popping until the next morning because of an oncoming sinus infection.  Ouch.  We stayed at The Candy Cane Inn, which made us really nervous...any place with a cheesy name like that sounds a little suspect, but on website after website, it was recommended as being wonderful for location, families, etc.  When we checked in, we soon realized that it really was great, and you can't beat the location. Yay for the Candy Cane Inn, !

 

 
 

The next morning we were up and on our way to California Adventure, a first for our family.  I was really excited to see what it was like, and it did not disappoint!  I thought it was fantastic. Especially Cars Land.  Our biggest folly of the trip was made the second we chose which ride to go on first.  Corey and I have been on the Tower of Terror before, and knew what it was about.  Asher, we knew would love it, and we (stupidly) figured Beck would be fine with it too.    He was a little apprehensive while we waited a few minutes to get on.  What a mistake. He hated it.  Woops.  The poor kid just turned four...what were we thinking?! We spent the rest of the day just hoping he'd forget it.  You know it's bad when he says, "I wasn't even scared that time!" following every ride the rest of the day.  Ah, regrets:(  But, the day was still fun.  And, of course, Asher claims his fave ride to be the Hollywood Tower of Terror.  I personally loved the new Cars ride and Soarin...Corey's faves too, I think.

We spent the following two days at the big D (what we started calling Disneyland so we could discuss things in front of the kids while planning this surprise trip). Love, loved it.  I seriously love Disneyland.  We had a great time, saw tons of characters(the boys even line danced with Mickey and Minnie), never waited more than 20 minutes for a ride, and made some fun memories. Asher loved Space Mountain, and Beck actually loved Splash Mountain, believe it or not.  The crowds weren't bad at all until our last day there, which was a Saturday, and even then, it was no biggie. We came home with a couple of Mickey swords/light sabers and a few new songs to shake out of our heads (Beck has been singing 'It's a small world' and 'A Pirate's Life for Me' a LOT).

 

 

Oh, and on our last day, we tried to hit the 'Padowan Training' show where they pick a bunch of kiddos from the audience and train them to be little Jedis.  Beck loved this idea and was elated when he was chosen.  He took his training very seriously...listening to every word of their instruction and doing exactly as they said.  When it was his turn to fight Darth Vader, Darth said to Beck, "I find your lack of faith disturbing", and then the combat began.  He was SO darn cute up there and has been telling anyone who cares (or doesn't care) that he fought Darth Vader.  It was great.

After our busy and exhausting days at Disney, we high-tailed it to Seal Beach for a few lazy days.  Our rental was great, right on the beach, so we just walked out and played.  We really didn't leave the house/beach except to go to In -N-Out (Corey was really excited), and dinner out the night before we left.  The weather was nice, but still a little cool, so our sweatshirts became a sort-of uniform throughout the trip. What a quaint little beach town!  We walked around main street, played at the little beach park, made sandcastles, combed the beach for shells, played frisbee, watched boats, took naps, watched movies and just relaxed.  What a nice little spot for a family trip:)  The night before we left, we explored the area a bit and ended up checking out the Newport Temple on a whim.  Gorgeous.  That whole area is absolutely gorgeous.

We had a fantastic time, ate, played, rested and had fun.  We all enjoyed this trip to the fullest (except for our annoying colds...well, Corey wasn't sick at all at least!) This was for sure one of the best family trips we've ever done. I'd do it again anytime!  Next week maybe?